Judges 6:11–18

¹¹Then the Lord’s angel came to the village of Ophrah and sat under the oak tree that belonged to Joash, a man of the clan of Abiezer. His son Gideon was threshing some wheat secretly in a winepress, so that the Midianites would not see him. ¹²The Lord’s angel appeared to him there and said, “The Lord is with you, brave and mighty man!”

¹³Gideon said to him, “If I may ask, sir, why has all this happened to us if the Lord is with us? What about all the wonderful things that our fathers told us the Lord used to do—how he brought them out of Egypt? The Lord has abandoned us and left us to the mercy of the Midianites.”

¹⁴Then the Lord ordered him, “Go with all your great strength and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I myself am sending you.”

¹⁵Gideon replied, “But Lord, how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least important member of my family.”

¹⁶The Lord answered, “You can do it because I will help you. You will crush the Midianites as easily as if they were only one man.”

¹⁷Gideon replied, “If you are pleased with me, give me some proof that you are really the Lord. ¹⁸Please do not leave until I bring you an offering of food.”

He said, “I will stay until you come back.”